The studios behind Red Faction and Homefront let go more than 30 of its developers this week, according to the gaming industry website Gamasutra. Both studios, Volition and Kaos Studios, are divisions of THQ.
Volition, which developed the Red Faction and Saints Row series, laid off 16 employees to “adjust our workforce to fit the studio’s current needs, which is a relatively common occurrence in the game development industry,” a THQ representative said in a statement.
The studio is currently working on the latest installments in Red Faction and Saints Row, in addition to a new game called Insane, which is a collaboration with film director Guillermo Del Toro. "The changes are not expected to affect any current or future titles in development with Volition," THQ said.
Meanwhile, Kaos Studios lost 17 of its employees. The studio recently released Homefront, which sold more than 1 million copies worldwide in about one week. THQ said the studio will continue to offer “robust DLC and content” for the first-person shooter. The 70 remaining employees will also continue working on pre-production of future titles.
The news of layoffs at THQ’s development studios comes the same day Sony Online Entertainment announced it closed three of its studios and cancelled The Agency, an online spy-shooter slated for release on PlayStation 3 and PC.